Part of our job as teachers is to excite our students about computing and to show them how computers affect their lives, both now and in the future. These days, many of our students are (rightly) concerned about the environment and are aware of stories in the news about the growing problem of technotrash. As the latest technological gadgets are released, the obsolete technology is discarded and finds its way to landfills, where toxic and non-biodegradable components raise environmental issues. I ran across this interesting article the other day on Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150526123835.htm. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have developed a technique for building the substrate layer of computer chips from wood (technically, from a biodegradable cellulose nanofibril). Greener computers may be on the horizon.

Dave Reed
Chair-Elect, CSTA Board of Directors